By Frederic Germay
Definitely worth seeing. Twice. Maybe even three times. If there is one point that I want to make infinitely clear is that this film deserves to be watched. It certainly isn’t a groundbreaking film by any means, but this movie provides an extraordinarily fresh, unique, and thrilling cinematic experience. Perhaps one contributor to the film’s refreshing style is the first person camera angle. Yes, that particular style has been done to death, but there are instances in which the method works, and in this case it works brilliantly. Yet another contributor to the movie’s thrilling style is the practically unknown 20-something year old cast, who deliver believability to the film’s storyline.
The film’s plot circles around a going-away party for this kid named Rob (Michael Stahl-David). Rob is leaving to Japan for a better job, and he also is leaving behind his brother Jason (Mike Vogel), his best friend Hud (T.J. Miller), and his love interest Beth (Odette Yustman). The film starts out by displaying a Department of Defense file containing a home-made video recovered in Central Park, now known as Cloverfield. This immediately lends a sense of foreboding to the film, as the general notion that all ends in doom cements as the film progresses.
Jason’s job is to film the party so that Rob will have something to remember them all by. This task, delivered to him by his girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas), bores him rather quickly, and he passes the job on to the likeable, yet mildly stupid, Hud. The film continues in this vein for quite some time, in which the viewer begins to wonder if they’ll ever get to the good stuff. Fortunately, during the party, the ground rumbles and everyone starts to speculate whether they are experiencing some kind of earthquake. They run to the roof and they witness a cataclysmic explosion rip through the city. Tearing out of the apartment, they uncover the head of the Statue of Liberty flying past their doorstep. Then the madness ensues…
Although the story has no narrative or subplots, a back-story is revealed when brief portions of a previously recorded video are seen on the video recorder. This story tells of the early relationship between Rob and Beth, and as the present plot thickens, we see that Rob still cares for Beth a great deal. Despite the cast being relative new, all the performances are very well done. However, Michael Stahl-David takes the cake for delivering the best performance as the love-stricken, heartbroken, and desperate Rob. The scene where he relays the death of his brother to his parents via cell phone is profoundly moving.
Ultimately, I would recommend watching this film, at the very least, for its excellent direction. The film takes a over-used format and transforms it into a shockingly engaging thriller. There aren’t many words to describe a film-going experience like this, so I will simply say that I liked it…a lot. Go see it for yourself. I give this film a 9/10.
